Question

【題目】 It was a red-letter day in the history of medicine—“Target Zero Day”, May 8th, 1980, marking the complete removal of smallpox, a terrifying disease. It was untreatable but, luckily, it turned out that vaccination(接種疫苗) provided good protection— and that mass immunization(免疫) could wipe out the smallpox virus by blocking its spread.

According to legend, vaccination was invented by Dr Edward Jenner. Jenner showed that healthy children vaccinated with cowpox, a mild infection of cattle, could not catch smallpox. He was supposedly inspired by a comment from a local milkmaid, but there is evidence that the idea came from a medical friend, John Fewster, who had experimented with cowpox. Nevertheless, Jenner deserves credit for introducing vaccination into the medical mainstream with his paper published in 1798.

In 1966, 160 years after the prediction that vaccination would clean off the disease, the World Health Organization launched its Smallpox Eradication Programme. This heroic 11-year drive was directed by two’ American public health doctors, DA Henderson and Bill Foege. Their hardships were enormous. One WHO official even promised to eat a tyre if smallpox was removed. Henderson promised to send him the tyre and wished him good appetite. But Henderson and Foege’s hard work paid off— three years after the last smallpox case was informed (to make sure no outbreaks had been missed) Target Zero Day was declared.

40 years on, why should we remember Target Zero Day? First, to celebrate victory of preventative medicine and freedom from a cruel disease. Then, we must remember the victims of smallpox. It had previously killed 1 in 12 worldwide. In 1914, a Canadian professor warned against forgetting smallpox, which was fast disappearing from North America. It went on to kill at least another 250 million people— three times more than both world wars combined. Target Zero Day also reminds us of undefeated infections, including polio, measles, malaria, and of course the coronavirus Covid-19. Let’s recognize Target Zero Day for what it is：a milestone in world history and a monument to the art of the possible.

【1】What inspired Jenner to invent the vaccination?

A.A medical friend.B.A local milkmaid.

C.Cattle.D.Children.

【2】What is the writer’s purpose of mentioning the WHO official’s promise?

A.To introduce the support from the WHO.

B.To stress the importance of good appetite.

C.To suggest the difficulty in removing smallpox.

D.To show his determination to carry on the drive.

【3】From the last paragraph we can infer that _______.

A.Covid-19 will be conquered soon

B.world wars are worse than infections

C.Canadians benefit from the vaccine most

D.smallpox is a terrifying disease

【4】What message does the text convey?

A.Every dog has his day.

B.A good beginning is half the battle.

C.A trouble shared is a trouble halved.

D.Nothing is impossible to a willing heart.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】A

【2】C

【3】D

【4】D

【解析】

本文是一篇新聞報道。1980年的5月8 日“零目標日”是醫(yī)學(xué)史上一個值得紀念的日子，標志著天花這一可怕的疾病被徹底根除。文章講述了天花被根除的艱難歷程以及“零目標日”的意義。

【1】

細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第二段中“…but there is evidence that the idea came from a medical friend, John Fewster, who had experimented with cowpox.”可知，有證據(jù)表明，Jenner發(fā)明天花疫苗的靈感來自于來自他的一個醫(yī)學(xué)方面的朋友John Fewster。故選A項。

【2】

推理判斷題。文章第三段中提到“Their hardships were enormous. One WHO official even promised to eat a tyre if smallpox was removed. （他們的困難是巨大的。一位世衛(wèi)組織官員甚至承諾，如果天花被根除，他將吃掉一只輪胎。）”由此可以推斷，文章提到這位世衛(wèi)組織官員的承諾是暗示當時世衛(wèi)組織認為根除天花幾乎是不可能的事情，會有很多困難。故選C項。

【3】

推理判斷題。文章最后一段中提到“It had previously killed 1 in 12 worldwide. …It went on to kill at least another 250 million people— three times more than both world wars combined.（在此之前，全世界有1 / 12的人死于該病。…它還造成至少2.5億人死亡，是兩次世界大戰(zhàn)死亡人數(shù)總和的三倍。）”根據(jù)天花造成死亡的人數(shù)可以推斷，天花是一種可怕的疾病。故選D項。

【4】

推理判斷題。通讀全文，文章講述了天花被根除的艱難歷程。文章最后一句提到“Let’s recognize Target Zero Day for what it is：a milestone in world history and a monument to the art of the possible. （讓我們認識到“零目標日”的意義：它是世界歷史上的一座里程碑，是展現(xiàn)可能性藝術(shù)的永久典范）”，根據(jù)其中“a monument to the art of the possible”可知，作者認為“零目標日”是可能性藝術(shù)的典范。根除天花盡管很艱難，但是最終，人類還是將它變得可能。選項A意思為：凡人皆有得意時；選項B意思為：良好的開端是成功的一半；選項C意思為：兩人分擔，麻煩減半；選項D意思為：心之所愿，無事不成。故選D項。